Monthly Archives: October 2014

SUNBURY, Pa. — Sunbury Press has released John L. Moore’s Bows, Bullets, and Bears, the first of eight volumes in the Frontier Pennsylvania series.

About the Book:
Jack Armstrong died violently along the Juniata River in early 1744.

Armstrong was a rough-and-tumble frontier trader whose sharp business practices antagonized one Indian too many. He and two men who worked for him traveled into the woods in early 1744 and never came out again. Word soon crossed the frontier that all three had been murdered. Obscure, but richly detailed documents tell how and why Iroquois Indians living along the Susquehanna River at present-day Sunbury developed evidence that exposed the Native Americans involved in Armstrong’s murder.

John L. Moore’s nonfiction book contains true stories of Armstrong and other real people caught up in the struggles that took place all along the Pennsylvania frontier throughout the late 1600s and 1700s. The stories are set mainly in the valleys of the Delaware, Juniata, Lehigh, Ohio and Susquehanna rivers.

Other chapters tell how:

A colonial-era witch trial.

The Philadelphia jury in Margaret Mattson’s 1683 witchcraft trail delivered a split verdict. She was acquitted of bewitching her neighbors’ cows, but found guilty of being known as a witch. Presiding over the trial was William Penn, who let Margaret go home after her husband and son posted a bond for her “good behavior.”

Moravian missionaries who traveled along the Susquehanna River’s West and North Branches during a famine in 1748 found many Indians sick with smallpox and suffering from starvation. The people in one native town were boiling tree bark for food. In another village they were cooking grass.

Early in the French & Indian War, an influential Iroquois chief known as “The Belt of Wampum” urged Pennsylvania officials to build a fort on the Susquehanna River at the native town called Shamokin, present-day Sunbury. “Such Indians as continue true to you want a place to come to and to live in security,” The Belt said in early 1756.

Frances Slocum, a small girl kidnapped by Indians from her home along the Susquehanna River during the America Revolution, spent most of her adult life as a Miami Indian. In 1839, her brother Joseph and his daughters traveled from Pennsylvania to Indiana to visit her. They traveled by stage coach, canal boat and horse-drawn railroad during their 19-day journey west.

Anecdotes throughout the book describe how Native Americans and Europeans hunted bears, ate bear meat, and used bearskins for blankets and mattresses.

Excerpt:February 1744
By the early 1740s, an Indian trader named Jack Armstrong, who operated out of Lancaster County, had developed a reputation for employing sharp and even antagonistic practices in his dealings with the Delaware Indians who lived, hunted, and trapped along the Susquehanna and the Juniata Rivers. Some of the trader’s white friends had even cautioned him about being overly harsh with his Indian customers and especially about angering them. If Armstrong wasn’t particularly likeable, he was nevertheless a successful trader and a well-known frontier personality. But as hard and tough as Armstrong was, events that occurred along the Juniata River during early 1744 proved that one of his customers, a Delaware Indian known as John Musemeelin, was tougher, harder, and more ferocious.

Armstrong’s story begins in early 1744 when the trader and two men who worked for him, James Smith and Woodworth Arnold, loaded their string of pack horses with trade goods—gun powder, gun flints, lead bullets, glass beads, scissors, woolen blankets, combs, little bells, and other items. For such goods, native trappers would eagerly swap the skins of deer, bears, beavers, elk, otters, foxes, raccoons, and wildcats.

Shikellamy

The three men headed north and followed the trail along the Susquehanna, and then, well north of present-day Harrisburg, swung west and headed out the Juniata toward the Allegheny Mountains. That was in February. By late March and early April, as spring came on, a rumor swept across the frontier: Armstrong and his men had disappeared and weren’t ever coming out of the woods.

As it turned out, all three had been murdered. Since the killings took place in Indian Country—well beyond what was then the western boundary of Pennsylvania—an Indian chief conducted the first official inquiry in the case. Indeed, records of the Pennsylvania colony contain a detailed account of this chief’s investigation into the disappearance and murder of Jack Armstrong. The account itself was dictated by Chief Shikellamy, an Oneida who represented the Iroquois Confederacy at Shamokin and who led the investigation that exposed the killer. Located at the forks of the Susquehanna River, Shamokin was the largest Indian town in what is now Pennsylvania. Shikellamy subsequently had the man arrested and incarcerated. Conrad Weiser, a Pennsylvania German who was the colony’s Indian agent, recorded Shikellamy’s narrative.

About the Author:John L. Moore, a veteran newspaperman, said he employed a journalist’s eye for detail and ear for quotes in order to write about long-dead people in a lively way. He said his books are based on 18th and 19th century letters, journals, memoirs and transcripts of official proceedings such as interrogations, depositions and treaties.

The author is also a professional storyteller who specializes in dramatic episodes from Pennsylvania’s colonial history. Dressed in 18th century clothing, he does storytelling in the persona of “Susquehanna Jack,” a frontier ruffian. Moore is available weekdays, weekends and evenings for audiences and organizations of all types and sizes.

Moore has participated in several archaeological excavations of Native American sites. These include the Village of Nain, Bethlehem; the City Island project in Harrisburg, conducted by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission during the 1990s; and a Bloomsburg University dig in 1999 at a Native American site near Nescopeck. He also took part in a 1963 excavation conducted by the New Jersey State Museum along the Delaware River north of Worthington State Forest.

Moore’s 45-year career in journalism included stints as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal; as a Harrisburg-based legislative correspondent for Ottaway News Service; as managing editor of The Sentinel at Lewistown; as editorial page editor and managing editor at The Daily Item in Sunbury; and as editor of the Eastern Pennsylvania Business Journal in Bethlehem.

POTTSVILLE, Pa. — Sunbury Press has released Steve E. Troutman’sGeology of the Mahanoy, Mahantongo, and Lykens Valleys: Something about the Earth We Walk On.

About the Book:
Author Steve E. Troutman taps his training in geology to take you on a tour of the Mahantongo, Mahanoy and Lykens Valleys from the beginning of time until humans arrived. Steve explains in layman’s terms the variety of geological features present as well as the conditions that led to them. He also includes images and discussions about the flora and fauna that were present during the geologic time scale.

Excerpt:
Let us now consider our local area comprised of the Mahanoy, Mahantongo and Lykens Valleys. Within the larger Mahantongo Valley is contained the Hoofland Valley. Within in the Lykens Valley is contained the coal bearing rock layers of Bear Valley which is north of Williamstown. Within the Mahanoy Valley is contained the coal bearing rock near Trevorton.

All the rocks in the area of our study are sedimentary. These rocks all originated within water or were associated with water as their environment of deposition. Red mud like is found on the Mississippi Delta, forms into red shale layers. Deep water sediments, such as in the Caribbean Sea today, are calcium rich and become limestone. Sands like those found at the ocean beaches are turned into sandstone. These layers of sedimentary rocks are termed rock strata. Sandstone which contains larger sedimentary grains of various sizes including larger pebbles is named conglomerate.

About the Author:

Steve Troutman was born in 1952, into a family with many living grandparents, all with roots in the Mahantongo Valley of Pennsylvania. He developed an interest in genealogy at an early age due to his parents’ interest in family history. Steve studied geology at Franklin and Marshall College, but did not pursue a career in this field. Instead, he continued working for the family business, Troutman Bros. Inc. of Klingerstown, Pa. He is the author of many books on local history and genealogy, including several with his wife, Joan. The Troutmans live and work in the heart of the Mahantongo Valley.

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Sunbury Press has released a new edition of Dr. George P. Donehoo’s classic 1928 work Indian Villages and Place Names in Pennsylvania.

About the Book:Originally published in 1928 by The Telegraph Press as A History of the Indian Villages and Place Names in Pennsylvania with Numerous Historical Notes and References

This book, Dr. George P. Donehoo’s Indian Villages and Place Names in Pennsylvania, was written and published in the early 20th century. That was a time when Americans were just beginning to become enthusiastic fans of much that was, or seemed to be, related to Native Americans. That was a time when Americans romanticized about the people who lived here before the Europeans and others arrived. During the time that Dr. Donehoo was creating this informative book, Americans couldn’t get enough of the popularized images of Indians. Books, paintings, songs and movies delivered exciting images of Native American life.

Indian Villages and Place Names in Pennsylvania is a valuable reference book for anyone, student or other, who wants to learn more about the land’s inhabitants before it ever became “Penn’s Woods.” Although first published in 1928, it was reprinted in 1977. Now it is being reprinted again. The need for this reprint comes from Dr. Donehoo’s translations of the hundreds of Native American names that appear across the commonwealth. We must accept a sorry fact: Pennsylvania’s Native American population is almost totally gone from the commonwealth. In addition, the main things that they left behind might be their countless arrowheads and their hundreds of Native American place names. While not all citizens of the Keystone State are interested in our state’s Indian heritage, all should be aware of it.

The author, Dr. George P. Donehoo, was a scholar who studied many aspects of Native American culture. At the time that he was studying and writing, there had been very little archaeology to support his work; yet Dr. Donehoo was able to explain much about the Native Americans’ several languages, their sweeping historical events and the many important historical sources on which he based his information. Above all, Indian Villages and Place Names in Pennsylvania explains the meanings of hundreds of Indian names–from Achsinning (Standing Stone) to Zinachson (Demon’s Den) that still appear throughout our commonwealth. Although most Native Americans and their culture have vanished from Pennsylvania, their colorful place names are a permanent reminder of their once-vibrant presence. Because Dr. George P. Donehoo was so diligent and conscientious in his work, this book explains those fascinating names. For the many readers who do appreciate our Native American heritage, this book will continue to be a welcome addition to their libraries. The reader will soon realize why Indian Villages and Place Names in Pennsylvania is a marvelous reference work.

Excerpt:
MAHANOY, MAHONING, MAHONY. A name that is much used over the entire state, chiefly as a name of various creeks and runs, but also as a village and town name, with various compounds. Is a corruption of Mahoni, “a lick,” and with the locative, ink, or ing, “at the lick,” having reference to the “licks” which were frequented by deer, elk, and other animals. The principal streams having the name are; the stream, now called Mahoning, which enters the Lehigh River from the south, opposite Weissport, Carbon County; the creek that enters the Susquehanna from the east in Northumberland County, now called Mahanoy; the creek that enters the Allegheny River, from the east in Armstrong County, formerly called Mohulbucteetam (which see); the stream that enters the Beaver from the west, at Lawrence Junction, Lawrence County, called Mahoning River; the stream, now called Penns Creek, which enters the Susquehanna, from the west, at Selinsgrove, was formerly called Big Mahonoy, or Mahony. There are several other smaller streams in various parts of the state, which have the same name, with various modifications.

About the Book:
Susan always knew her family was different. Whether it stemmed from an unusual and often complicated childhood, or from her experiences with the “other side,” Susan lived on the outskirts of a normal life. As a young mother, she naively navigated the dating world, while stretching the boundaries of her ability to find her calling. Through trial and error, she found love in all the wrong places until, one day, she discovered where true love originated from.

You’d think that being a child of a conservative family living in New York, with a Yugoslavian immigrant mother and World War II veteran father would make Susan’s life interesting enough. However, add a dash of coffee cup readings, a tablespoon of past life memories, and stir in a grown intuitive woman who survived the dating world, and you have a cup of New Age angst.

Born on a full moon, under the Chinese year of the Fire Dragon,Born Fire Dragon follows Susan on the marvelous ride of life.

I’m in a dream of sorts and here is the Tony award-winning actor from The Bird Cage, and Carrie’s good friend from Sex in the Citywho was gay, but decided to marry a straight woman. Nathan Lane, dressed up in a white suit that shimmers in the light surrounding him, is what my brain has decided God looks like. He stands there patiently waiting for me, flashing that bright Broadway smile. Where are we? Standing on clouds that don’t really look all together like puffs of condensed air and water? Instead, I realize we are in the place between heaven and earth—the place where sometimes, during deep meditations, I meet those from the other side. It’s like a popular coffee house where there is no limit to slices of zen and good company. He’s waiting for me.

Nathan Lane (aka God) asks, “So, do you want to stay or do you want to go?”

I knew this moment was coming for about a year now. I could feel it in my bones. I had hoped to be awake for this moment, to make a conscious choice, but here I was, my soul standing before him while my body was nestled under an abundance of covers and pushed up against my husband Charlie.

“I need time to think,” I said. Stupid. Stupid. This is what happens when you allow your soul to do the talking. Time. Time for what?

I used to be painfully afraid of death. Even though I had these experiences that all added up to me knowing there was more aside from this so-called-life on Earth, I had no need to go. Been there, done that, many times I was sure. However, in the past year I started to make peace with the concept of death. I allowed it to creep up on me like a good story, wiggle its way into my mind and settle comfortably there. Now I was deciding whether I was fine with death, right here in this moment. Was I ready to go?

I read somewhere once, perhaps in a Sylvia Brown book, that we have a certain number of “outs” in our lives. “Outs” are choices as to whether we wanted to stay or go. I guess here was another “out” option for me. I didn’t want to take this option. I want to grow old well into my nineties and squeeze the nectar out of life. Left up to my soul now, would I make the same decision my mind would make?

I know death well. I’ve seen its face three times in my personal life and many times with others. Death and I, we’re old buddies.

About the Author:
Susan Kiskis is a yoga instructor, energy worker, and intuitive guide. While Susan’s path started as a child in New York City, her quest for the answers to life’s biggest questions took a turn when she was twenty. She studied Buddhism, Hinduism, and other religions before starting on a path to learning the healing arts and yoga. She has been certified in over fifteen areas of holistic healing and has taught at conferences, classes, and workshops on the East Coast. Susan’s community activism has led to the creation of events celebrating Earth Day and International Women’s Day. A freelance writer and former politician, Susan owns a yoga studio in Mechanicsburg, PA, where she lives with her husband, daughter and lots of pups and kitties.

Kiskis is available for interviews and appearances. For booking presentations, media appearances, interviews, and/or book signings, contact hello@barefootwellnessstudio.com.

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Sunbury Press has released Lawrence von Knorr’s catalog of the paintings of Fritz VondeHeiden entitled Modern Realism According to Fritz: The Oil Paintings of Fritz VonderHeiden.

About the Book:
No one has painted urban Harrisburg as often as Fritz VonderHeiden (b. 1934). His style, developed over many decades, calls to mind Edward Hopper, but in a reductionist, minimalist way. His best urban works feel sterile and monolithic, emphasizing the geometry of road, architecture and the natural world in a compelling composition of curves, color, and structure. They exemplify the energy of the 20th Century, harkening back with Art Deco elements.

Fritz did not always paint this way. His earlier works – and some of his award-winning paintings – are more detailed, calling to mind Winslow Homer and John SInger Sargent. His range of subjects is also varied, from the urban settings mentioned to country landscapes, lighthouses, portraits, still lifes and even surreal imaginings.

Office Space, 1996

This book contains images of 127 of Fritz’s paintings in all of his categories: Scenes of Harrisburg, Scenes of the Greater Harrisburg Area, Portraits, Groups, and Figures, Landscapes and Lighthouses, and Still Lifes and Wildlife. All help celebrate the long career of this prolific painter, capturing his mastery of 20th Century Modern Realism.

About the Editor:
Lawrence von Knorr is a native of Pennsylvania who is one of the pioneers in “Digital Impressionism” or “Photo Impressionism”, utilizing computer software to enhance photography to produce painterly creations. His work includes landscapes, architectural, portrait and still-life subjects.

South on Susquehanna Street, 1998

Lawrence received a 35mm camera as a gift at age 13, and has been photographing ever since. Professionally, he has worked in the information systems field, providing numerous opportunities to travel extensively. In recent years, the love of photography and experience in computer software merged into an interest in digital fine art.

Von Knorr began exhibiting in the Harrisburg, PA area in 2006. His first New York Exhibition was in 2008. He lives in the Harrisburg area with his wife Tammi.

EXHIBITION AND BOOK SIGNING:
An exhibition of Fritz VonderHeiden’s work is being held at the 2nd Floor Gallery at 105 S Market St, Mechanicsburg, PA, 17055, for the month of October. A book signing will be held there on Saturday October 18, 2014, from 6 PM to 9 PM. Please contact the gallery for more information: (717) 697-0502.

Northumberland, PA — Sunbury Press has signed author John L. Moore of Northumberland, PA to publish his well-known Frontier Pennsylvania history series, which will reach eight volumes with the latest release:

Forts, Forests and Flintlocks

Bows, Bullets and Bears

Cannons, Cattle and Campfires

Pioneers, Prisoners and Peace Pipes

Rivers, Raiders and Renegades

Settlers, Soldiers and Scalps

Travelers, Traders and Tomahawks

Warriors, Wampum and Wolves

Each volume will be 8×5 inch paperbacks, ranging from 50 to 70 pages, with full-color covers.

(From the Republican Herald Dec. 23, 2012):

Moore, a veteran newspaperman, said he employed a journalist’s eye for detail and ear for quotes in order to write about long-dead people in a lively way. He said his books are based on 18th and 19th century letters, journals, memoirs and transcripts of official proceedings such as interrogations, depositions and treaties.

The author is also a professional storyteller who specializes in dramatic episodes from Pennsylvania’s colonial history. Dressed in 18th century clothing, he does storytelling in the persona of “Susquehanna Jack,” a frontier ruffian. Moore is available weekdays, weekends and evenings for audiences and organizations of all types and sizes.

Moore has participated in several archaeological excavations of Native American sites. These include the Village of Nain, Bethlehem; the City Island project in Harrisburg, conducted by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission during the 1990s; and a Bloomsburg University dig in 1999 at a Native American site near Nescopeck. He also took part in a 1963 excavation conducted by the New Jersey State Museum along the Delaware River north of Worthington State Forest.

Moore’s 45-year career in journalism included stints as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal; as a Harrisburg-based legislative correspondent for Ottaway News Service; as managing editor of The Sentinelat Lewistown; as editorial page editor and managing editor at The Daily Item in Sunbury; and as editor of the Eastern Pennsylvania Business Journal in Bethlehem.

Regarding cover artist Andrew Knez, Jr.:

I have been marketing my “Frontier Art” full time since the spring of 2000. The text that accompanies many of my paintings or prints is material from extensive research into period journals, diaries, archival records and I have a number of experts with whom I consult about particular details of an intended painting. It is not uncommon for the research into a particular portrayal of an event or proper clothing and accoutrements represented to take much longer than the actual painting. The text helps the viewer to have a more in-depth understanding of the subject of the painting. One-thousand copies of my recent book entitled “Eastern Frontier Art” sold out in twenty months through word of mouth, a few small ads in historical publications and personal appearances at historical sites. My art has graced the covers and/or pages of many books including the Kentucky Social Studies S. E. textbook by Harcourt Publishing, Rockhouses and Rhododendron, Volumes 1 and 2 by John Curry, The Indian Capture of Jacob Nicely by Robert Nicely, On the Banks of the Gauley by Rock Foster and Skulking in the Woods by Ben Scharff. To date, I have had my art on the covers of over 70 national and international publications including Backwoodsman, Muzzle Blasts, Muzzleloader, On the Trail, Black Powder Cartridge News, Journal of the Americas and Precision Shooting Magazine. I also was commissioned to create the video cover art for “The Captives”, an award winning documentary about the abduction of Mary Draper Ingles. I was made a Signature member of the National Oil and Acrylic Painters’ Society along with being accepted as a member of the American Plains Artists. My originals are in many private, corporate and historical collections such as: The National Rifle Association, Bushy Run Battlefield, The Beaver County Historical Center, Old Bedford Village, The Brandy Station Foundation, Prickett’s Fort, Wilderness Road State Park, Contemporary Longrifle Association and Owensboro Museum of Fine Art.